Historical Highlights
The Civil Rights Bill of 1866
April 09, 1866

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
A New York state politician for more than a decade, Representative Henry Raymond served only one term in the House of Representatives

April 09, 1866

On this date, the House overrode President Andrew Johnson’s veto of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 with near unanimous Republican support, 122 to 41, marking the first time Congress legislated upon civil rights.

First introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, the bill mandated that “all persons born in the United States,” with the exception of American Indians, were “hereby declared to be citizens of the United States.” The legislation granted all citizens the “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property.” To Radical Republicans, who believed the federal government had a role in shaping a multiracial society in the postwar South, the measure seemed the next logical step after the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865 (which abolished slavery).

Representative Henry Raymond of New York noted that the legislation was “one of the most important bills ever presented to this House for its action.” President Johnson disagreed with the level of federal intervention implied by the legislation, calling it “another step, or rather a stride, toward centralization and the concentration of all legislative power in the national Government” in his veto message.

The Civil Rights Bill of 1866 proved to be the opening salvo of the showdown between the 39th Congress (1865–1867) and the President over the future of the former Confederacy and African-American civil rights.

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William Lloyd Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society early in the 19th century.

Abolitionists remained divided until the end of the American Civil War in 1865, when the United States formally ended slavery throughout the entire country with the Thirteenth Amendment.

The American Anti-Slavery Society disbanded in 1870 and was recognized on April 9, 1870

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0193 – In the Balkans, the distinguished soldier Septimius Seversus was proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.

0715 – Constantine ended his reign as Catholic Pope.

1241 – In the Battle of Liegnitz, Mongol armies defeated the Poles and the Germans.

1454 – The city states of Venice, Milan and Florence signed a peace agreement at Lodi, Italy.

1667 – In Paris, The first public art exhibition was held at the Palais-Royale.

1682 – Robert La Salle claimed the lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France.

1770 – Captain James Cook discovered Botany Bay on the Australian continent.

1833 – Peterborough, NH, opened the first municipally supported public library in the United States.

1838 – The National Galley opened in London.

1865 – At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of Wilmer McClean’s home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops.

1866 – The Civil Rights Bill passed over U.S. President Andrew Johnson‘s veto.

1867 – The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty with Russia that purchased the territory of Alaska by one vote.

1869 – The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.

1870 – The American Anti-Slavery Society was dissolved.

1872 – S.R. Percy received a patent for dried milk.

1900 – British forces routed the Boers at Kroonstadt, South Africa.

1905 – The first aerial ferry bridge went into operation in Duluth, MN.

1912 – The first exhibition baseball game was held at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was between Red Sox and Harvard.

1913 – The Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ebbets Field opened.

1914 – In London, the first full-color film, “The World, The Flesh & the Devil,” was shown.

1916 – The German army launched it’s third offensive during the Battle of Verdun.

1917 – The Battle of Arras began as Canadian troops began a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.

1918 – Latvia proclaimed its independence.

1921 – The Russo-Polish conflict ended with signing of Riga Treaty.

1928 – Mae West made her debut on Broadway in the production of “Diamond Lil.”

1940 – Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.

1942 – In the Battle of Bataan, American and Filipino forces were overwhelmed by the Japanese Army.

1945 – National Football League officials decreed that it was mandatory for football players to wear socks in all league games.

1945 – At Bari, Italy, the Liberty exploded and killed 360 people. The ship was carrying aerial bombs.

1947 – 169 people were killed and 1,300 were injured by a series of tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

1950 – Bob Hope made his first television appearance on “Star-Spangled Review” on NBC-TV.

1957 – The Suez Canal was cleared for all shipping.

1959 – NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts.

1963 – Winston Churchill became the first honorary U.S. citizen.

1965 – “TIME” magazine featured a cover with the entire “Peanuts” comic gang.

1965 – The Houston Astrodome held its first baseball game.

1967 – The first Boeing 737 was rolled out for use.

1968 – Murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was buried.

1976 – The U.S. and Russia agreed on the size of nuclear tests for peaceful use.

1981 – The U.S. Submarine George Washington struck and sunk a small Japanese freighter in the East China Sea. The Nissho Maru’s captain and first mate died.

1983 – The space shuttle Challenger concluded it first flight.

1984 – Nicaragua asked the World Court to declare U.S. support for guerilla raids illegal.

1985 – Japanese Premier Nakasone urged Japanese people to buy foreign products.

1986 – It was announced that Patrick Duffy’s character on the TV show Dallas would be returning after being killed off.

1987 – Dikye Baggett became the first person to undergo corrective surgery for Parkinson’s disease.

1988 – The U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Panama.

1989 – 16 civilians were killed during rioting in Soviet Georgia.

1989 – Hundreds of thousands marched past the White House in support of the right to abortion.

1991 – Georgia voted to secede from the U.S.S.R.

1992 – Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami, FL, of eight drug and racketeering charges.

1998 – The National Prisoner of War Museum opened in Andersonville, GA, at the site of an infamous Civil War camp.

1998 – More than 150 Muslims died in stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on last day of the haj pilgrimage.

1999 – In Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh of the ruling Popular Rally for Progress and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy was elected president.

1999 – In Niger, President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was assassinated. Daouda Malam Wanke was designated president two days later.

2000 – CBS-TV aired “Failsafe.” It was the first live full-length show to by aired by CBS in 39 years.

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